Means for forming laced leather members



Sept. 9, 1958 R. L. DUCKLO 2,850,750

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Fatented Sept. 9, 1958 MEANS FOR FORMING LACED LEATHER MEMBERS Robert L. Ducklo, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to The Louis G. Freeman Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application April 10, 1952, Serial No. 281,604

4 Claims. (CI. 12-51) I My invention relates to the formation of laced leather pieces, and while these may be used for any purpose to which laced leather is appropriate, Ishall describe my invention in connection with the formation of laced leather members for shoes.

There is great demand for laced leather shoes, many persons preferring them not only by reason of their enhanced flexibility, but also because of the ventilation and coolness provided by the openwork construction. Laced leather shoes are made in many styles and degrees of complexity of the lacing itself, which also has a decorative function; but such shoes are made by forming slits in upper leather members such, for example, as Vamps, and lacing strips or thongs through the slits so that portions of the upper leather piece lie above the thongs and other portions below the thongs.

While it is possible to form a sort of woven leather piece in definite or indefinite lengths by the use of thongs or lacing strips alone, this has been found unsatisfactory. In the manufacture of a satisfactory shoe from the standpoint both of appearance and wear, the upper leather piece should have a continuous margin suitable for strong attachment to the remaining shoe portions; and if the shoe is to'have a laced leather construction, this should beiaccomplished by slitting the upper leather piece and insertingthe thongs as aforesaid.

The lacing of these leather pieces has in thepast been a" hand operation. A suitable needle is attached upright to a support on a table or workbench and an operator threads an upper leather piece'oiito the needle passing the needle alternately in opposite directions through adjacent slits in the leather, which slits are usually'm al gnments a straight or curved path. When the leatheif piece has thus been threaded ontothe needle, a leather lacing thong is attached to the end of the needle, and the leather piece, withdrawn. This results in the thong occupying the position formerly occupied by the needle. ,The operation is repeated for each thongrequired by thelacin'g design,

Not only is the operation time consuming, inconven' ient and costly if perfectly done, is rendered even more so by the opportunities for error inhereiit in the procedure. The upper leather piece will first have been slitted in a suitable die; but the slits are often very diflicul't to" see; It is afrequent experience in the lacing of leather pieces that the needle is incorrectly passed through the slits, resulting in an incorrect positioning of the lacing thong. In some types of laced leather pieces, the design of the lacing itself is not adapted to' giv'e an indication of correct or incorrect positioning of the thongs, so that it is quite possible for the operator to proceec'iwith an incorrect lacing operation until all'or nearly all of the thongs have been inserted, only to find that they must all be removed and the work done over. So costly is the operation of lacing leather shoeelements, that laced leather shoes manufactured in this country are frequently sold' at no profit or at a loss because persistent and relatively large-scaledemand makes it advisable or necessary to include such shoes in a merchandising line.

lacing, but in most instances a definite passageway ;for;{

ters Patent No. 2,781,532 on February 19, 1957, assigned to the same assignee, there is described a method and apparatus for mechanically lacing leather pieces. Excel lent results are obtained in accordance with the teachings of that application; and where large quantities of laced leather pieces are to be produced, very substantial sav ings in cost are realized in spite of the requiredinitial outlay for mechanism. However, there are some manufacturers who produced such relatively small quantities of laced leather shoes that the required capital outlay for mechanical lacing equipment would be questionably justified. A principal object of this invention is the provision of means of relatively small cost which will nevertheless facilitate and cheapen a lacing operation in which the positioning of the lacing thongs is accomplished by hand.

These and other objects of my invention, which will be set forth hereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, I accomplish in that method and by the use of that mechanism of which I shall now describe certain exemplary embodiments. Reference is made to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figures 1 and 2 are respectively a front elevation and a vertical section of a press mechanism which may be employed by me.

a Figure 3 is a plan view of an exemplary slitted leather vamp.

Figure 4 is a sectional view thereof taken along the sec tion'line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a plan view of a die or deflecting means which may be employed with the vamp of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a sectional view of the deflecting means taken along the section line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a sectional view through an assembly showing the deflecting means of Figure 6 operating on the vamp of Figure 3 with a deformable backing member.

Figure 8 is a plan view of the vamp of Figure 3 after having been treated and in partially laced condition.

Figure 9 is a sectional view of the same vamp taken along the section line 99 of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is another sectional view taken along the line Iii-10 of Figure 8 and showing a lacing thong in position. a

Figure 11 is a partial plan view of a vamp intended for lacing in another design.

Figure 12 is a sectional view thereof taken along the section line 1212 of Figure 11. I

Figure 13 is a sectional view of a deflecting assembly designed to treat the vamp of Figure 11.

Figure 14 is a partial plan view of the vamp in partially laced condition.

Figure 15 is a two-part sectional view showing means for slit-ting a vamp and the slit vamp in connection with such means.

Figure 16 is-a two-part sectional view showing the" same slitting means in conjunction with deflecting means, as will hereinafter be described.

Figure 17 is a sectional view of a composite die assembly. I

Briefly, in the practice of my invention, I have found that it is possible to treat a leather piece to deflect portions of the leather intermediate cuts or slits therein i such fashion as to provide not only a positive guide for the needle which greatly facilitates and speeds up the insertion of the needle. The deflection to which I have referred is most conveniently described as a deflection of alternate portions of the leather between slits or cuts to either side of a median plane. Usually the deflection takes this form; but depending on the nature of the deflecting means and to some extent on the placement of the slits or cuts, the same result may be accomplished by deflecting certain portions of the leather to one side only of the general plane of the leather piece; and where I speak of deflecting alternate leather portions to either side of a median plane, I desire to be understood as including both types of deflection without necessarily implying that any portions of the leather piece remain in or occupy a plane intermediate between two other planes occupied by other portions of the leather.

Ordinarily, the leather piece will be precut or slitted before the deflecting operation and frequently by means of mechanism other than that employed in the deflecting operation. However, it is possible and in some cases advantageous to sever the leather or slit it in an operation concurrent with the deflecting of various portions, as will hereinafter be described. The deflecting is done in such fashion as to produce a displacement of leather portions of suflicient persistence to permit the subsequent lacing operation. It is convenient, therefore, to refer to the displacement as an embossing, implying a degree of persistence, although it will be understood that my procedure does not require the permanence ordinarily desired in embossing. In fact, it is usually advantageous if the leather is so treated that it will tend to return to its original condition after the lacing operation since this will usually make for a tighter lacing. However, it is within the scope of my invention to produce a permanent deformation of the leather, and indeed, to produce actual embossings of decorative design elements where these are desired in conjunction with the lacing.

Referring to Figure 3, I have there shown an exemplary vamp 14. It has been provided with slits indicated at 15 which, in the particular instance, may be thought of as having previously been formed by the treatment of the vamp 14 with a slitting die assembly in a suitable press. During slitting the vamp may have been correctly and accurately located with respect to the slitting die by suitable gauging means. Small holes 16 in the vamp, of which there may be as many as required for accurate location, may be employed for the purpose of locating the vamp with respect to one of the dies or deflecting means hereinafter described; and this procedure in advantageous because with a preslitted vamp an accurate location with respect to the deflection die is required.

In Figures and 6, I have shown a deflecting die, normally a metal plate 17 suitable for affixing to the platen of a press or to a base which can be aflixed to the platen. The plate in this instance has certain raised portions 18 of such a size and arranged in such a fashion that they lie between adjacent slits and deflect the intermediate leather portions when the vamp 14 is treated by means of the die. As shown in Figure 7, this die or deflecting means may be employed in combination with a backing member on the opposite side of the vamp 14. The backing member is indicated in the figure at 19. It may consist of a resilient or deformable element such as rubber, leather, or other suitable material which will serve to cause the leather of the vamp 14 to conform both to the plate 17 and the projections 18 of the die member, thus producing a deflection of leather portions lying between the slits 15. Instead of employing a resilient or de formable member 19, I may employ a rigid die member which may be thought of generally as a reverse counterpart of the die element illustrated in Figures 5 and 6, i. e. it will have depressions Where the die element has projections and vice versa. Such an element may be made of metal or other hard substance.

It will be understood that the die 17, 18 and the backing element 19 or opposite die element will be employed in conjunction with a suitable press. The die elements may be attached to the press platens; and in Figure 7 press platens are indicated at 20 and 21. Again, the die elements may be free of the platens but simply placed in assembly therebetween. Yet again, the die elements may, if desired, be guided one upon the other. In many instances it will be found preferable to mount the die elements fixedly on the platens of a suitably accurate press since the platens will then serve to keep the dies in alignment while usually permitting sufiicient spacing between the dies when the press is open to provide adequate working space for removal and replacement of the material.

Presses have come to be usual equipment in shoe manufacturing plants because they are employed with dies for various cutting operations including the formation of decorative cutouts and the like. One such press is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 as comprising a frame 22 and a motor 23. A lower platen element 24 is mounted in the upper part of the frame in such fashion as to have an up-and-down reciprocation. This may be accomplished by a toggle arrangement 25 driven by an eccentric 26 on an operating shaft 27. The upper platen 28 is shown as having a horizontal sliding movement in the upper part of the housing along ways 29. Movement of the upper platen may be accomplished by means of a crank and pitman assembly 30. Control and driving mechanism for the press need not be here outlined. The press is provided with cycle determining means. At the start of each cycle, the upper platen element 28 slides forwardly until it lies above the lower platen 24. Thereafter the lower platen 24 is raised to effect a press stroke. The lower platen then falls to its initial position and the upper platen is withdrawn, as shown in Figure 2. This uncovers the upper surface of the lower platen and allows adequate working space for the positioning and removal not only of the dies but of the material to be operated upon.

The die and its backing element are fastened respectively to the upper and lower platens and in proper position to mate when the press is closed. Either element may be fastened to the upper or lower platen as desired. The work may be located with respect to either element since locating pins may be provided in connection with either, the opposite member being recessed to accept the pins.

While I have referred to a particular press as exemplary of one which I may employ in the practice of my invention, it will be understood that this does not constitute a limitation. Other types of presses may be employed including presses having other types of movement of the respective platens, and including very much simpler structures such as hydraulic presses, lever presses, toggle or screw presses.

No special pretreatment of the leather for embossing purposes is ordinarily required. I have found that sufliciently persistent deflections may be accomplished in accordance with my invention by suitably formed die and backing elements in the absence of any conditioning of the leather but preferably where at least one of the die elements is warmed or heated. Electrical heaters may be built into the platens of the press, or into one or both of the die elements themselves. In Figure 2 I have shown an electrical heater 31 so located in the upper part of the press frame that when the upper platen 28 occupies the position shown, its die will lie in close proximity to the electrical heater during the rest period of the press, thereby acquiring sufiicient heat for a deflection operation. While ordinarily unnecessary, it is not a departure from the spirit of my invention to condition the leather as by steaming, or moistening, or otherwise, if that be required. The length of time of the press dwell may readily be adjusted to the characteristics and thickness of the leather and its condition. v

It will be seen from Figure 9 that in the deflected condition the vamp piece 14 has relatively deflected portions 32 and 33. These portions, are in alignment and preferably the extent of the deflection is such as to leave a passageway between them indicated at 34. As shown in Figure 8, it is easy to pass a lacing needle 35 through this passageway. The needle may be on a stand as described above; but since the passageway is well defined, so that the needle may' be inserted without using undue force, it is readily possible to attach a leather lacing thong 36 to the needle and, in a hand operation, pass the needle and the thong continuously through the passageway in a single rapid operation without the use of a'needle holder. In this event the needle will have a threading point at one end and the usual bifurcated construction for the acceptance and retention of a leather thong at the other. In Figure 8 a plurality of thongs 37 is shown already in position. The deflection of the leather portions and the provision of the passageway 34 not only facilitates and speeds up the lacing, but makes it quite impossible to lace the upper leather piece incorrectly. Figure 10 shows the laced structure in section, and it will be seen that the oppositely deflected leather portions 33 and 32 lie respectively to opposite sides of the thng 37.

In Figure 11 I have shown at 38 a leather upper piece intended for a different style of lacing. The leather piece may be preslit, as at 39, the slits in this instance being substantially parallel and in substantial alignment, although along curved rather than straight paths. If the blank is preslit, as shown in Figure 12, it may be placed between dies or deflecting elements 40 and 41 on the platens 42 and 43 of a suitable press and deflected in the way hereinabove described. It is, however, possible to treat an unslit vamp or upper leather piece between metallic dies in such a way as both to cut the.

leather and to deflect alternate portions thereof. This may be accomplished with accurate dies where the projections 40a on 'the upper die and the projections 41a on the lower die are so configured and proportioned as to exert together a cutting or shearing action on the leather.

. In Figure 14 the vamp 38 is shown in partially laced condition, certain thongs 44 being already in position. The lacing in this instance was accomplished as hereinabove described, the leather of the upper piece 38 being sufiiciently flexible to permit a straight and substantially rigid needle 35 to go through the passageways formed between specially deflected leather portions, although curved needles or flexible needles may be employed if desired.

It will be understood that the use of a single pair of dies for both cutting and deflecting affords an opportunity for a saving in mechanism, since otherwise separate die assemblies must be provided for slitting and for deflecting. The disadvantage of dies operating by a shearing action as described in connection with Figure 13, however, is that as the dies wear, their coaction becomes less perfect, and the shearing cut is likely to become rougher, especially in a fibrous material such as leather. It is preferable to form the slits or cuts by means of knives operating against a suitable cutting surface or anvil. Such knives not only provide a superior cutting action, but they may be removed and resharpened or renewed. It is possible to provide cutting knives in connection with the deflecting means of my invention. Such an arrangement is illustrated in Figures 15 and 16. Here I have shown a die 45 having what may be termed raised portions 46 and depressed portions 47. The die is provided with inset knives 48 located between raised and depressed portions. Preferably these knives will be bevelled as shown with sharp cutting edges located in the plane of one of the knife faces. The cutting edges of the knives will be located respectively adiacent depressed portions 47, as illustrated, since portions ofthe leather will in another operation be deflected between the knives, and it is not desired to have the edges of the deflected leather portions upset or com pressed due to the thickness of the knives.

For proper cutting the knives should be brought to bear against an anvil member which may be of wood, metal or other substance. Such a member is shown at 49 in Figure 15. The first section of this figure shows the relationship of parts preparatory to the cutting operation. The leather upper piece, in this instance indicated at 50, is shown located with respect to the die 45 by means of pins 51, or other gauging means. The anvil member 49 has recesses 52 to accommodate the pins. The second section of Figure 15 shows the relationship of the elements after the cutting or slitting has been ef fected. .The leather has been severed in the desired places; but the respective leather portions have not as yet been relatively deflected. I

To accomplish deflection, I make use in conjunction with the die element 45 of an opposite die element 53 (as shown in Figure 16) which takes the place of the anvil member 49. This die element has deflecting means 54 designed with suflicient clearance to pass between the knives 48 adjacent a depressed portion 47 of the lower die 45. The upper die 53 may also be recessed, as at 55, to accommodate the edges of the knives 48. Elec' trical heating elements 56 may be built into the dies ifdesired.

It will be observed that the lower die element 45 is first employed in connection with an anvil member 49 to eflect a cutting operation and thereafter is employed in connection with an element 53 for the deflecting operation. ,The second section of Figure 16 shows'the relationship of the elements after deflection when the press has been opened. There are various ways in which the use of different opposite members with respect to the die 45 may be effected. Using a press such as is shown" in Figures 1 and 2 for example, .the die.45 may be located on one of the platens and the anvil member 49 located on the other platen. Thereupon, a series of upper leather pieces may be cut by the operation described above in connection with Figure 15. The cut pieces may? be stacked to one side until a sufficient number has been accumulated. vThereupon, the anvil member 49 may be.

removed from its platen and the member 53 accuratelyv located thereon, and the previously cut upper leather pieces may now be deflected, one after another. The advantage of the construction and method is that a single pair of die elements 45 and 53 will be found suflicient both for cutting and for deflecting, thus effecting a saving in apparatus. The anvil member 49 (which may be a simple panel or block of wood) is not a matter of significant expense and may be renewed as desired.

In other types of construction, as where a press having a variable stroke may be employed, the die members 45 and 53 may be attached to the respective press platens and remain in such position at all times during operations upon upper leather pieces of the size and style for which the dies are designed. When it is desired to cut a leather piece, a wood panel or other suitable anvil member is simply placed between the dies after the location of the upper leather piece on the pins 51. A properly proportioned stroke of the press will then result in cutting. The anvil member is next removed and the press stroke lengthened to cause die member 53 to coact directly with die element 45.

Where herein I have employed the terms upper and lower with respect to dies, deflecting elements or backing members, I have intended these terms to be terms of convenience rather than limitation. Either die may be located on either platen depending on convenience. Die assemblies which are essentially independent of the press may also be employed, i. e. an upper die element may be mounted upon and guided with respect to a lower die element, and the assembly simply placed between the platens of a press or removed as desired. When employing the combination of two dies and an anvil member, an arrangement is possible, such as that shown in Figure 17. Here the previously described die 45 has hinged to one of its edges the anvil member 49 as at 57. As shown in dotted lines, after a vamp or other upper leather piece has been located with respect to the die element 45, the anvil member may be swung over on top of the die and a press operation will result in cutting. To the other edge of the die element 45, the die element 53 may be hinged, as at 58. It may next be swung over above the upper leather piece on the die element 45, and the next press operation will result in deflecting. It will be understood that the hinge elements of the hinge construction, particularly as at 58, must be such as to permit relative up-and-down movement of the die elements 45 and 53 when they are in superposed position; but at the same time the construction should be such as definitely and accurately to locate the die element 53 with respect to the die element 45.

There are many styles of lacing, to all of which the teachings of this invention may be applied. While the invention will be found most useful in constructions wherein lacings are drawn through passageways between slits spaced from each other in both directions (as distinguished, say, from a basket-weave type of construction), the invention is applicable to any type of lacing wherein a thong or strip may be positioned by a needle between relatively oppositely deflected leather portions. It is applicable, moreover, to multiple lacing operations in which lacings are passed through slits in a leather piece in a plurality of directions. It is possible by means herein set forth to deflect not only portions of a slitted leather piece such as a vamp, but also these portions together with a portion of lacings previously inserted in a vamp or leather piece. It is also possible to deflect certain portions of a singular or composite leather piece, insert lacings, and then by means of additional die elements or combinations, deflect other portions of the same piece or pieces and insert other lacings. Where the term slit has been used herein, and in the claims which follow, it is not intended as language of limitation, but rather as language broad enough to encompass any appropriate form of cut or perforation whether or not portions of the leather are removed in the process. Also, while I have referred to leather as being the primary material to which my invention is addressed, it will be understood that the teachings herein are applicable to the treatment of other webs which can be handled and deflected in a similar manner including webs of plastic, unified cloth and the like. Similarly, the thongs need not be leather, but can be of any suitable flexible substance.

Modifications may be made in my invention without departing from the spirit of it. Having thus described my invention in certain exemplary embodiments, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In apparatus for the purpose described, a die element having raised and depressed portions, certain of said raised portions lying in spaced relationship and in substantial alignment in one direction, said raised portions in the said direction beng flanked by cutting knives fixedly secured to said die element.

2. In apparatus for the purpose described, a die element having raised and depressed portions, certain of said raised portions lying in spaced relationship and in substantial alignment in one direction, said raised portions in the said direction being flanked by cutting knives, a cutting anvil, a means for producing substantial conformance of a leather piece to said die to produce alternately relatively deflected portions therein, and means for selectively bringing said cutting anvil and said last mentioned means into coaction with said die.

3. The apparatus claimed in claim 2 wherein said means for producing substantial conformance of a leather piece to said die comprises an obverse die element with relatively raised and depressed portions.

4. The apparatus claimed in claim 3 wherein means are provided for applying heat to at least one of said die elements.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,103,034 Clark July 14, 1914 1,353,456 Coryel Sept. 21, 1920 2,573,087 Youngblood et al. Oct. 30, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 246,114 Germany Apr. 25, 1912 

